Investment proposals in electronics sector cross Rs 1 lakh crore

"Let India become a good centre of manufacturing from ships to consumer electronics to medical electronics to defence electronics," Prasad said.NEW DELHI: Government has received investment proposals worth over Rs 1 lakh crore for manufacturing in the electronics sector, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.

"We are promoting electronic cluster in a big way since last 14 months. We have received investment proposals of Rs 1.07 lakh crore till now on which we are going to give lot of incentives under MSIPS," Prasad said at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of EEPC India.

The Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme provides subsidy for investments in capital expenditure which is 20 per cent for investments in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25 per cent in non-SEZs. It also provides for reimbursement of countervailing duty or excise for capital equipment for the non-SEZ units.

Besides, for setting up electronic chip manufacturing unit, government is allowing 200 per cent deduction on expenditure on research.

Prasad said that electronics manufacturing space has huge potential to generate employment.

"Seven institutes of IT and electronics will be set up so that we can have good human resource to supplement need of human resource in electronic manufacturing," Prasad said.

He said the government's Make in India programme for the domestic market as also for exports is the essence of Digital India initiative, and appealed to stakeholders to make India hub for all kind of manufacturing.

"Let India become a good centre of manufacturing from ships to consumer electronics to medical electronics to defence electronics," Prasad said.

Government is promoting electronic clusters which will provide full eco-system to make certain products and states are competing with each other for setting them up, he said.

It provides assistance of up to 50 per cent of the project cost for new EMC which is subject to a ceiling of Rs 50 crore for 100 acres of land. For larger areas, pro-rata ceiling applies.

As of July this year, government has approved two greenfield EMCs and accorded in-principle approval to 16 and three Common Facility Centres in brownfield clusters under the scheme.